This book was commissioned by Weidenfeld & Nicolson in 2001
as a pictorial anthology of the life of Sir Ernest Shackleton.
The introduction was written by Shackleton’s distinguished
biographer, Roland Huntford and the brief was to tell the story
of Shackleton’s four Antarctic expeditions in 330 pictures and captions.

Photographs by Frank Hurley of the Endurance expedition are
of such stunning quality that is was a great challenge to find
photographs from the other expeditions that would stand out in
one way or another. In the end I used not only photographs but
drawings, printed material, reproductions of posters and letters
in order to bring life to the stories of Discovery, Nimrod, Endurance
and Quest. This worked well in that it gave a stronger historical
context to the book rather than making
it just another photographic gallery centred around Endurance.

Shackleton was a fascinating character to work on.
He had two clearly defined personalities,
which are reflected in the photographs. On the
high seas and on expedition he was bold, a natural
leader exuding confidence and strength. On land
he was much less sure of himself. The photographs
show a man much less at ease with himself which,
for one who
sought publicity in order to finance his expeditions,
is perhaps surprising.

“'Julie Summers has unearthed many stunning images...
This is a riveting story in words and pictures of rivalry,
survival, comradeship and courage in the face of danger and
hardship... Through photographs, drawings and diary extracts
we come to know Shackleton... the enthusiast will be
thrilled with this long awaited pictorial work with its
high definition photographs
speaking volumes of the victories and the defeats and
the daily grind of survival.”